Benigno Aquino III was sworn in Wednesday as the Philippines' 15th president, leading a Southeast Asian nation his late parents helped liberate from dictatorship and which he promises to deliver from poverty and pervasive corruption.

The Philippine Congress proclaimed Benigno Aquino III the country's new president Wednesday amid high hopes he will fulfill his campaign promise to eliminate corruption and poverty and restore trust in government.

The son of a democracy icon was favorite to win the Philippine presidency as millions of citizens voted Monday, undeterred by computer-counting machine glitches and violence that claimed at least nine lives.

Returning to the Manila highway where 1986 "people power" protests led by his mother ousted a dictator and swept her to power, Benigno Aquino III asked a huge yellow-clad crowd to seize the moment and help him win next week's presidential election.